Kiir rejoins Rome talks with rebels

JUBA – South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir Mayardit has informed the Community for Sant’Egidio of Rome’s mediation to prepare for resumption of peace talks between the unity government and holdout opposition South Sudan Opposition Movements Alliance (SSOMA).

Kiir in August suspended talks with the opposition alliance led by General Thomas Cirilo Swaka who is also the chairman and commander in chief of South Sudan’s National Salvation Front (NAS) after the government accused the group of standing behind a highway attacks that killed five civilians including two Catholic nuns.

General Cirilo’s group responded with furry and accused security elements of South Sudan government of standing behind the highway killings saying the South Sudan National Security Service (NSS) under General Akol Koor Kuc had deployed killers along the highway to implicate NAS in the crimes.

Speaking during the closing session of the 5th Governors Forum in Juba this afternoon, President Salva Kiir Mayardit asked the community of Sant’Egidio of Rome to prepare for resumption of talks and that he was returning to try again to end the conflict with General Cirilo’s group.

“I am today asking the Community of Sant’ Egidio to begin the preparation for resumption of Rome Peace Talks with Holdout Groups without precondition,” Kiir said.

For its part, South Sudan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and said in a statement seen by Sudans Post that it has been informed by the president that the peace talks with rebel groups in Rome will resume.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation would like to inform the public that His Excellency the President of the Republic has announced the resumption of Rome Peace Talks with Holdout Groups under the auspices of the Community of Sant’ Egidio,” the foreign ministry statement reads in part.